Our friend and sister, Amal of SIEVX, leaves us

By Mary Dagmar Davies

"My friend, my sister, Amal Basry, the first to tell the story of the last hours of the people of SIEVX, died today. I thank God I spoke to her yesterday and was able to tell her that I loved her and that I cared.

"Amal and I had shared so much time on the phone, we had laughed and we had cried together. She was courageous, funny and strong but yesterday all her strength was gone. Instinctively I knew this was our last conversation. She told me how many things she could not do anymore as though she felt she must apologise.
'Amal just relax. There is nothing you need to do. You have done everything that could ever be asked of anyone.' I said.

"Yes Amal had done everything that could ever be asked of anyone. She had in fact done so much more. Amal Basry was the bravest, most wonderful woman I have ever known. I heard her name for the first time on October 23, 2001 four days after the sinking of SIEVX when she was quoted in the media saying 'Everybody has beautiful dreams about Australia.' I first spoke to her in December 2003, when she agreed to be a patron of JANNAH THE SIEVX MEMORIAL, and our conversation continued until yesterday ...

"I am fortunate that Amal Basry shared so much of her life, her experiences and her feelings with me. I spoke to one of the nurses who was caring for her in those last hours and told her about Amal and SIEVX. I thought it was important they know they were looking after a brave and brilliant woman. A woman who had survived for twenty hours in the sea among the dead and dying. She did so much to ensure the 146 children, 142 women and 65 men who died in the tragedy of SIEVX would not be forgotten and I hope she has joined those 353 souls in a much better place. Just as I know everyone who ever met her will ensure she will be remembered with respect by people all over this world.

"I seldom pray but I have prayed today. I seldom cry but I have cried today just as I cried when Amal and I first met. We both sobbed, we both said 'I love you' and 'You are my sister'; we seemed to say all this together as though we were one. I will never forget that loving hug. Amal felt warm and soft and wonderful, she felt as I remember my mother felt in happier times. My mother also died of breast cancer and her cancer like Amal's went into the bone and then the liver. Again today I feel as though I have lost my closest and dearest relative.

"I am devastated by Amal's passing. I cannot and will not remove her name from JANNAH THE SIEVX MEMORIAL. Amal Basry's name will remain unchanged heading the list of Patrons of Jannah just as she will continue to inspire all of us who care. My heart goes out to her family in Melbourne, Iraq and Iran. May God grant Amal Jannah and give her family the patience and strength to bear this loss."
Axis of Logic

Don't know about Australia's shame, 'SIEVX'? See October 19, 2001 in the Book of Days. [Wilson's Blogmanac is dedicated to the memory of the victims of SIEVX.] More at http://sievx.com/

"Mourners at a memorial service for SIEV-X survivor Amal Basry were asked last night to help enact her dream - to welcome people fleeing persecution.

"The Iraq-born woman spent 30 hours in the sea clinging to the corpse of another woman after an Indonesian people-smuggling boat, overladen with asylum seekers, sank in 2001.

"The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre's Kon Karapanagiotidis said: 'Her dream was that other people would not suffer as she did.'

"Mrs Basry, 51, who died on Saturday, was on her way to join her husband in Australia when the boat sank."
The Age

Tagged: siev-x, sievx